Queue to see the Queen’s coffin stretches to 8km
The queue to see the Queen lie in state could become the longest in British history as mourners wait through the night to see her coffin.
Members of the public have headed to Westminster Hall, where the Queen’s coffin was taken after a procession from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. Since 5pm that day local time mourners, having waited for days for positions in the queue, have been allowed in to file past the coffin.
Last night the queue had grown to nearly 8km, with mourners expected to wait at least eight hours to reach Westminster Hall. About 350,000 people are likely to be able to view the coffin, but 750,000 are expected to try to join the queue. The lines of mourners passing the Queen’s coffin were doubled yesterday in response to the remarkable numbers wanting to pay their respects amid concerns that people faced a 35-hour wait.
When Winston Churchill died in 1965, 321,360 people visited his coffin. The most people to attend a British monarch lying in state was recorded in 1910 after the death of Edward VII, with half a million mourners travelling to Westminster Hall. In 2002 about 200,000 people visited the coffin of the Queen Mother as she lay in state.
Historians said that while the queue for Queen Elizabeth II was big, it was not unprecedented. ‘‘I think people have a range of emotions, but this moment isn’t unprecedented, it shouldn’t really be unexpected,’’ David Olusoga told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He added that the country was not used to such huge turnouts for deaths, as it had been so long since a monarch had died.
‘‘What it is, is unfamiliar, and that’s because the late Queen ruled for so long. We saw the same scenes in 1910 when Edward VII was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. Again, half a million people queued, there were queues again that were miles long, queues through the night, queues in the streets and at the funeral millions were on the streets.
‘‘When the Queen’s father died, a third of a million people queued to see his coffin in Westminster Hall. This is entirely normal, [but] it’s been seven decades since we’ve been through this.’’
One senior official involved in earlier preparations raised concerns that the initial arrangements had significantly slowed the expected flow of people passing the coffin. A House of Lords spokeswoman said the changes had been made because of the scale of the demand.